Fact file
Violence against women: Facts and figures
Violence against women and girls is one of the most widespread violations of human rights. It can include physical, sexual, psychological and economic abuse, and it cuts across boundaries of age, race, culture, wealth and geography. It takes place in the home, on the streets, in schools, the workplace, in farm fields, refugee camps, during conflicts and crises. It has many manifestations from the most universally prevalent forms of domestic and sexual violence, to harmful practices, abuse during pregnancy, so-called honour killings and other types of femicide.
Based on country data available, up to 70 per cent of women experience physical or sexual violence from men in their lifetime. A World Health Organization study of 24,000 women in ten countries found that the prevalence of physical and/or sexual violence by a partner varied from 15 percent in urban Japan to 71 percent in rural Ethiopia, with most areas being in the 3060 percent range.
Violence against women and girls has far-reaching consequences, harming families and communities. Gender-based violence not only violates human rights, but also hampers productivity, reduces human capital and undermines economic growth. Countries have made some progress in addressing violence against women and girls. According to the UN Secretary-General's 2006 In-Depth Study on All Forms of Violence against Women, 89 countries had some legislation on domestic violence, and a growing number of countries had instituted national plans of action. Marital rape is a prosecutable offence in at least 104 States, and 90 countries have laws on sexual harassment. However, in too many countries gaps remain.
In 2008, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched his campaign UNiTE to End Violence against Women to draw international attention at the highest level to the issue. Say NO UNiTE is designed to support social mobilization to drive actions and accountability, in contribution to the UNiTE campaign.
Did you know?
-Up to 70 percent of women and girls will be beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in their lifetime.
-Rape and domestic violence are a higher risk for women aged 15 to 44 than cancer, traffic accidents or malaria.
-Violence against women has become a weapon of war. In Rwanda, up to half a million women were raped during the 1994 genocide.
-140 million women and girls alive today have undergone female genital mutilation.
-It is estimated that 5,000 women are victims of so-called “honour killings” every year.
-The economic costs of violence against women are considerable. In the United States, the costs of medical care and productivity loss due to intimate partner violence exceed US$5.8 billion per year.
Facts and figures
Violence against women and girls is a problem of pandemic proportions. Based on country data available, up to 70 per cent of women experience physical or sexual violence from men in their lifetime the majority by husbands, intimate partners or someone they know.
Among women aged between 15 and 44, acts of violence cause more death and disability than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents and war combined. Perhaps the most pervasive human rights violation that we know today, violence against women devastates lives, fractures communities, and stalls development. It takes many forms and occurs in many places domestic violence in the home, sexual abuse of girls in schools, sexual harassment at work, rape by husbands or strangers, in refugee camps or as a tactic of war.
Femicide - the murder of women because they are women
-In the United States, one-third of women murdered each year are killed by intimate partners.
- In South Africa, a woman is killed every 6 hours by an intimate partner.
-In India, 22 women were killed each day in dowry-related murders in 2007.
- In Guatemala, two women are murdered, on average, each day.
Trafficking
-Women and girls comprise 80 percent of the estimated 800,000 people trafficked annually, with the majority (79 percent) trafficked for sexual exploitation.
Harmful practices
-Approximately 100 to 140 million girls and women in the world have experienced female genital mutilation/cutting, with more than 3 million girls in Africa annually at risk of the practice.
-Over 60 million girls worldwide are child brides, married before the age of 18, primarily in South Asia (31.1 million and Sub-Saharan Africa (14.1 million).
Sexual violence against women and girls
- An estimated 150 million girls under 18 suffered some form of sexual violence in 2002 alone.
- As many as 1 in 4 women experience physical and/or sexual violence during pregnancy which increases the likelihood of having a miscarriage, stillbirth and abortion. Up to 53 percent of women physically abused by their intimate partners are being kicked or punched in the abdomen.
-In Sao Paulo, Brazil, a woman is assaulted every 15 seconds.
-In Ecuador, adolescent girls reporting sexual violence in school identified teachers as the perpetrator in 37 per cent of cases.
Rape as a method of warfare
-Approximately 250,000 to 500,000 women and girls were raped in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
-In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, at least 200,000 cases of sexual violence, mostly involving women and girls, have been documented since 1996, though the actual numbers are considered to be much higher.
Cost of violence against women
-Domestic violence alone cost approximately US$1.16 billion in Canada and US$5.8 billion in the United States. In Australia, violence against women and children costs an estimated US$11.38 billion per year.
-Domestic violence alone cost approximately US$1.16 billion in Canada and US$5.8 billion in the United States. In Australia, violence against women and children costs an estimated US$11.38 billion per year.
Sexual harassment
-Between 40 and 50 per cent of women in European Union countries experience unwanted sexual advancements, physical contact or other forms of sexual harassment at their workplace.
-In the United States, 83 per cent of girls aged 12 to 16 experienced some form of sexual harassment in public schools.
Source: saynotoviolence.org
